Category: Comedy

Pictures From The 2014 Seattle And Bumbershoot Trip

Space Needle at nightHello again, family, friends, and everyone else. The pictures from our 2014 trip to Seattle for the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival (and much more!)  are now online! We had a great time and so did our friends. Take a look at the pictures!

For most of the musical acts, I took a LOT of pictures, but I only posted 2-4 pictures of each act on here. If you really want to see more photos of any musical act, let me know. Also, I wish I had more pictures of the people we went with, Mama O, Sam, Cal, Laura, Margaret. Everyone was doing their own thing but I should have taken more pictures. Maybe next time.

If you are thinking of going in 2015, let me know that too.

If you have any questions, just ask. And leave a comment if you want….

2014 Seattle and Bumbershoot photos

What we did on the 2014 trip – part 1

What we did on the 2014 trip – part 2

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Happy Birthday To Woody Allen!

Happy Birthday to Woody Allen, one of the best filmmakers in the world and my personal favorite. At 79 he is still going strong and making quality films. Here’s the trailer from his “Midnight In Paris” from about three years ago.

 

 

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The 2014 Seattle And Bumbershoot Trip – Part 2

bumbershoot_2014_logoClick here to read part one first

I’ll post some pictures soon, but here’s part two of what we did on our trip.

Saturday August 30

This is the day I have been waiting for, the start of the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. We took the monorail to the Seattle Center, the site of the festival, and yes we were early. That’s how I like it. At 11:00 AM, we entered the festival and headed immediately to the Starbucks Gold Lounge, for a free coffee drink. Then we walked over to the VIP Hospitality Lounge and had some snacks there. OK, now time for music. First up was The Lonely Forest in the KEXP lounge (the secret stage). This show and their outdoor show later today were going to be their last shows ever. After some 10 years together they were calling it quits. Too bad, too, because their set was great! Now I discover them!


The 2014 Seattle And Bumbershoot Trip – Part 1

space needle

It was time for our annual trip to Seattle for the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. We go every year, since 2001, making this our 14th year in a row. And we love it more than ever.

I’ll post some pictures soon, but first, here’s what we did on our trip.

Tuesday August 26

We usually fly out on Wednesday but we added an extra day this year so we could get to Seattle on Petra’s birthday. We left in the early morning to give us more time there. We caught the Super Shuttle (Blue Van) to the airport, where Mama O (Linda) and Aunt Sam met us and off we went. It was a quick Southwest flight. In Seattle, we took the convenient light rail and soon arrived at our hotel, The Camlin. It was too early to check in so they held our luggage for us while we went out in search of some fun. First stop was lunch at Cyber-Dogs, an all vegetarian hot dog place, very funky and very cool. After that we caught the monorail over to the Seattle Center. We sat a while at one of Petra’s happy places, the International Fountain.


Pictures From The 2013 Seattle And Bumbershoot Trip

bumbershoot_sign_2013Hello again, family, friends, and everyone else. The pictures from our 2013 trip to Seattle for the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival (and much more!)  are now online! We had a great time and so did our friends. Take a look at the pictures!

If you have any questions, just ask. And leave a comment if you want….

2013 Seattle and Bumbershoot photos

What we did on the 2013 trip

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The 2013 Seattle And Bumbershoot Trip

seattle_skylineFor the thirteenth year in a row, we traveled up north to Seattle for the annual Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. I’ll get some pictures on here soon. We had a few extra days too, to see the city, but of course the festival is the big draw. As in most years, some friends travel along, this time it was Cal and Laura, along with Sam and Mama O. What did we do? Well….

Wednesday August 28

All six of us had the same Southwest flight in the morning. Once in Seattle, we separated at various points. Petra and I took the light rail to our hotel, The Camlin. The room wasn’t quite ready so we had them hold our luggage while we went to lunch at one of our favorites, Cyber-Dogs, a wonderful vegetarian hot dog place. These dogs are more like meals and really delicious. After that we walked over to Whole Foods and got some supplies for the week. Then it was back to the hotel. Now the room was ready and we went up and unpacked. In a bit, we took the monorail over to the Seattle Center and met up with the rest of the party for a while. Then Petra and I had a nice vegan chinese food meal at Bamboo Garden, where everything is animal-free! And then the monorail back to the hotel. It was a good start for the trip.


Happy Birthday Woody Allen

Woody is perhaps America’s greatest living filmmaker. Certainly in the top five. I have loved his movies for as long as I can remember and I look forward to each new one. So I want to wish him a very happy birthday!

Let’s celebrate! Here are a few clips from his films.

 

 

More below…


The Beatles Love, The Rutles Lunch

As you probably know, The Beatles music was used by Cirque Du Soliel for a show in Las Vegas called “Love”. It’s a great show and I highly recommend seeing it. The Beatles music was remixed and mashed-up, overseen by Beatles producer George Martin, so that the music is both familiar and fresh.

The Rutles (learn more), on the other hand, were NOT asked by Cirque Du Soliel to do anything. They are always in the shadow of the other fab four, it would seem. So there is no Rutles Vegas show. But what if? Luckily, some enterprising person DID remix and mashup their music and it’s now the soundtrack to their non-existent production, “Lunch”. Ah, if only it were meant to be. But we DO have these (click “continue”)…


Seattle And Bumbershoot 2012 Photos Are Here

Hello again, family, friends, and everyone else too. The pictures from our Seattle 2012 trip are now online! We had a great time as usual. There are Seattle pix, Bumbershoot Festival pix, and just some other weird pix we took on the trip.

Any questions, just ask. Besides Petra and me, you will see some pictures of our friends Karl, Betty, Mama O (Linda), and Sam. Even Karl’s brother Ron and his son Antonio are in a few. Take a look! Leave a comment if you want, I’ll be waiting….

Seattle/Bumbershoot 2012 photos

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Seattle And Bumbershoot 2012 – Part 3

Part 1 | Part 2

The third and final installment in our exciting vacation saga. And soon I will post the pictures too! Oh be still my beating heart!

Monday September 3

Of course Happy Birthday to the daughter. Meanwhile , back to our vacation. We headed out to the last day of the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. As per our routine, we first went and got a free Starbucks drink then went straight to the VIP hospitality area for some food and to finish planning the day. Petra’s first destination was a dance-related performance called Maximum Velocity, while I went to watch Seattle-based Seapony. I liked the band, they were pretty young but have potential. Then I watch a stripped-down mini-set (was it four or five songs?) on the Toyota Free Yr Radio Stage by England’s The Wombats. They were really likable and really good, ending with a highly-modified (with banjo) version of their song Let’s Dance To Joy Division. Petra meanwhile caught the end of rocker Reignwolf’s set, and we met up after at the “secret stage” for a performance by Low. They are aptly named, the music was very downbeat and while it was ok it was not really that interesting for either of us. That changed soon, though, since the next show in that stage was Passion Pit. They are getting radio play and a lot of press for their new album Gossamer so we were curious. This show was three of the members in a stripped down session, three keyboards/synths. The main guy opened the set with just an acoustic guitar for one song and the rest were the three of them. This was a great show, with enough electric to be cool but still fairly intimate. We both liked it a lot.


Seattle And Bumbershoot 2012 – Part 2

Looking for part 1 – click here

Saturday September 1

Today was the first day of the happiest place on Earth. No, not Disneyland, sheesh! This is way better. Three long days of music, comedy, dance, and most of the other arts. We discovered the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival in 2001 and attended that year and every year since, making this our twelfth year. Some people travel with us, sometimes different people every year and then again some come year after year. We certainly do and hopefully this will continue. Heck, we already have a room reserved for the 2013 Festival and so does our friend Linda!

By the way, best improvement ever, this year: giant video screens at almost all the outdoor venues, so everyone can see!


Seattle And Bumbershoot 2012 – Part 1

We just got back from our annual trek to Seattle for the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival (and more). I’ll post some pictures soon, but in the meantime here is a short overview of what we did. This year our friends Karl and Betty went too, first time for them. And of course our friend and festival veteran Linda Orozco went again with her friend Sam (first time for Sam too).

Maybe we’ll see you there next year…!!

Wednesday August 29

As usual we arranged for the Blue Van to pick us up. Karl and Betty came to our house to leave with us. We always allow for plenty of time to get to the airport in case something doesn’t go as planned. And this year, sure enough, the van was supposed to arrive between 7:25 and 7:40. Well, finally at about 8:10 the van finally showed up. This still let us catch our flight but it was more rushed than it should have been and pretty stressful. Shame on you Super Shuttle, I will be writing a separate letter to you. But anyway, it worked out and we had a smooth and quick Southwest Airlines flight to the Emerald City of Seattle. Did I mention that I love Seattle?


To Rome With Love

I saw the new Woody Allen movie today. Friends know that I am a huge fan of his, and as such I may not be completely objective. So what. He’s one of the best filmmakers ever and a huge talent to boot. Sure, he’s made a few lesser films but overall nearly all of his films are good, very good, great, and/or amazing.

Really, you need to see each of his films a few times to truly appreciate the witty and incisive writing, the expert direction, the always-high talent level of the actors. And this one has all that. Set in Rome, it tells multiple stories but weaves them all into a enjoyable, funny, and clever film. Is it a drama with comedy or a comedy with drama? Dunno. Who cares. The characters are interesting and draw you in, and he gives them good lines and the leeway to create.

Here’s the trailer:

 


Happy Birthday Woody Allen!

Woody is perhaps America’s best living filmmaker. Certainly in the top five. I have loved his movies for as long as I can remember and look forward to each new one. So I want to wish him a very happy birthday!

Here’s a clip from a very early movie, still funny over 40 years later…

What’s your favorite Woody Allen movie or scene?

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